The competitiveness of the smartphone market is reaching levels never seen before. No company in the sector can rest on its laurels, at the risk of being overtaken; This year, almost every month, we have seen a major release, even during the so-called “quiet” months of the industry. This translates into significant changes in the market; The year 2024 began with Apple taking the throne from Samsung, but Samsung counterattacked by taking back the crown.
Now comes another striking, but not surprising, plot twist. In reality, it’s something that was seen from afar, but it’s still shocking that it finally happened: Xiaomi has overtaken AppleIn fact, for the first time in many years, the second position in mobile sales is not occupied by either Apple or Samsung, which traditionally swap positions with each launch.
That’s the conclusion of the latest Counterpoint study released this week, and some of the details are worth clarifying. For starters, Counterpoint bases its study only on direct sales made in August, and so it’s not entirely accurate; many sales made through third parties (such as stores or carriers) are not recorded. However, there is no industry standard for recording total sales, and companies prefer not to share this data; direct sales are therefore as good an indicator of a company’s success as any other. Other analysts like IDC prefer to use distributed units, but their study has not yet been published.
Considering all this, Xiaomi’s success is historic. Although the Chinese company had been on the verge of catching up with Apple in recent years, always at the same time of year, until now, Apple had always saved the day at the last moment. Ironically, the change in position is not due to an increase in Xiaomi’s sales, but to a biggest drop in iPhone sales.
Xiaomi’s sales figures have remained relatively stable, but Apple has suffered particularly this year; Samsung, for its part, has seen a notable increase that has allowed it to maintain a comfortable leadership. The reason why August is always a bad month for Apple is obvious: every September, the company introduces the new generation of iPhone, so most users prefer to wait and see if the new model is worth it. August is therefore the “weakest” month for Apple, if being on the podium of the industry can be called weak.
Everyone knows that Xiaomi will lose the second position when the data for this September is released; as it has happened in the last three years, it is expected that Apple moves to first position As soon as the iPhone 16 data is recorded, the key is to know what its advantage will be and how it will be maintained over the months.
Let us recall that the iPhone 16 range is one of the most continuous in recent years, with the majority of new features focused on Apple Intelligencethe alternative to Galaxy AI and Google AI; But unlike its competitors, this platform has not been launched with the new mobile phones and is not even available in some important markets like Europe yet. This can greatly affect the sales of the iPhone 16 over the months, and it could be an opportunity for Samsung and Xiaomi to impose themselves in the first two positions throughout 2025.